Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB), leading shipbuilder and naval support provider in the Gulf region, and Navantia, the Spanish state-owned reference company in design, construction, integration and life-cycle support of naval vessels, have signed, on November 17, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) regarding the cooperation in identification and management of future business opportunities for shipbuilding and services related projects for the UAE Navy and other Gulf countries.

The collaboration of this agreement includes the following areas: Through life support, combat and platform systems integration, procurement management, operational and maintenance training and transfer of technology.

The MoU was signed between ADSB Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Khaled Al Mazroui and the Commercial Vice President of Navantia, Gonzalo Mateo-Guerrero at the Dubai Airshow. The aim of this MoU is to support and optimise naval shipbuilding, maintenance, repair and refit activities across all UAE maritime forces. ADSB is also keen to look outside the UAE borders and provide similar solutions to complex Naval fleets across the region.

This MoU is to be considered as a preliminary understanding for future agreements for naval projects in UAE and the GCC countries and provides excellent opportunity for ADSB and Navantia to demonstrate their joint expertise in the UAE and Gulf region with a view to achieve long-term relationship working closely with major navies of the region.

The agreement represents the strong commitment of ADSB and Navantia for collaboration and to be part of the development of the naval capabilities in the GCC countries. The cooperation between both companies will strengthen the industrial capabilities of UAE in the defence sector, particularly in the naval field.

Navantia is currently participating in two tenders, for the construction of seven landing crafts and six multi-mission corvettes.